16+-+Subtropical+Desert+-+Taylor+Ma,+May+Trieu,+Anh+Le



Subtropical Desert

__**Introduction: **__

Subtropical deserts can be warm or cool, with very low chance of rain, making it very dry. Because it receives very little precipitation, most of the plants have to conserve the water it receive from the environment to survive.

The hottest deserts are the subtropical deserts, and it exist in Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America. Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojave are all the existing subtropical deserts that can be found in the U.S.

The Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojavae are the three major subtropical deserts. These deserts are different from one another due to their distinct flora communities. The amount and timing of rain each desert receives define their flora communities.

Subtropical deserts are between 15° and 30° north and south latitude and are in the middle of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Subtropical deserts, which exist between 15° and 30° north and south latitude, are centered on the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. In some years, evaporation exceeds precipitation in this very dry biome.
 * __Location: __**

Subtropical hot deserts may have daytime soil surface temperatures above 60°C (140°F) and nighttime temperatures approaching 0°C (32°F). In cold deserts, temperatures may be as high as 25°C (77°F) and may drop below -30°C (-22°F). Subtropical deserts are characterized by low annual precipitation of fewer than 30 cm (12 in), with little monthly variation and lack of predictability in rainfall. In some cases, the annual rainfall can be as low as 2 cm (0.8 in), such as in central Australia ("the Outback") and northern Africa. Subtropical deserts are hot and dry in the summer and cool and dry in the winter. Sometimes, the atmosphere becomes hot enough for rain to evaporate midair. Rainfall occurs sporadically in subtropical deserts.
 * __Temperatures and Precipitation: __**

__**Flora & Fauna: **__ The type of vegetation and limited animal diversity of this biome are affected by the limited rainfall and the high temperature. Some vegetation cannot live from one year to the next in very hot deserts. Plants, instead, live and reproduce during rainfall, then die. Many other plants in these areas are able to conserve water by having deep roots, reduced foliage, or water-storing stems. Seed plants, meanwhile, produce seeds that can remain dormant between rainfalls. As for animals, some animals reduce water loss and to conserve energy by burrowing during the day and being nocturnal, like the fennec fox.



The greener shrub is the large Atriplex genus, which is common in the desert biome.

The Mojave Desert contains about 200 plant species. Cactus are constrained to the coarse soils of bajadas. The Spanish Bayonet is common in high-elevation deserts. Some common shrubs of the Mojave desert include the Creosote Bush, Shadscale, Big Sagebrush, Bladder-sage, bursages and Blackbush.



__//<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Mojave Desert Fauna: //__
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Burrowing Owl
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Bobcat
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Arizona Bark Scorpion
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Desert Chipmunk
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Elf Owl
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Fringe-Toed Lizard
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Kangaroo Rat
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Glossy Snake

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Chihuahuan Desert has the dominant plant species of the Creosote Bush in its area, but it also consists of other plant species such as the Viscid Acacia and the Tarbush. Twenty percent of the desert consists of grasslands that are compromised of shrubs and grasses such as the Purple Three-awn, Sideoats Grama, and Black Grama

__//<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Chihuahuan Desert Fauna: //__
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Desert Tarantula
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Whip Scorpions
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Desert Millipede
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Barred Tiger Salamander
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Trans-Pecos Ratsnake
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pallid Bat
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Western Pipistrelle
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Brazilian Freetailed Bat

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Some plants can actually thrive in the Sonoran Desert with their specialized adaptations to the desert climate. There are species such as the famous saguaro cactus, the prickly pear, and the beavertail. The Creosote Bush and bur sage dominates much of the land. __//<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Sonoran Desert Fauna: //__
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Desert Kangaroo Rat
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Arizona Night Lizard
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Desert BigHorn Sheep
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Desert Tortoise
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Mourning Dove

__**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18pt;">Human Impact: **__ <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Although the deserts are inhospitable to most life forms, they still provide a home for most of Earth’s creatures. Despite the uncomfortable temperatures of subtropical deserts, humans are still able to disturb the lives of the deserts’ creatures by:

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">During the mid-19th century, gold was discovered in areas of the Mojave. This led to the creation of boom towns, a town that experiences exponential population and economic growth. On Christmas Day in 1860, the first Mojave mine was opened in Death Valley. Once the mining craze continued, borax was discovered has been mined from the Death Valley area. Deserts are, overall, mainly used by humans to mine gold, but there is much more.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Mining- **

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Desert ghost towns are the results of the mining boom’s aftermath. The towns are either further developed to maintain a community, while others become tourist attractions. With the creation of the air conditioning, living in the deserts became feasible. These humans end up competing with the other creatures that live in the desert biome.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Ghost Towns- **

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">A slight change in temperature and precipitation does indeed present a problem-with more heat and desertification (from human activity) desert land is spreading. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">With increasing temperatures from global warming, many life forms will find it harder to adapt.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Global Warming- **

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18pt;">Sources: __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Boundless. “Subtropical Deserts and Chaparral.” Boundless Biology. Boundless, 05 Jan. 2015. Retrieved 22 Jan. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbooks/boundless-biology-textbook/ecology-and-the-biosphere-44/terrestrial-biomes-246/subtropical-deserts-and-chaparral-912-12166/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Deserts." NatureWorks. New Hampshire Public Television, 2015. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep8f.htm>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Subtropical Deserts." Rocky Mountain Research Station Grassland, Shrubland and Desert Ecosystems. United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/grassland-shrubland-desert/research/ecoregions/subtropical-deserts/>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">"The Desert Biomes." Deserts. Marietta College's Biology and Environmental Science Program, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. <http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/desert.htm>.